E-commerce is coming to the rescue of bricks-and-mortar stores. The physical sites that had been threatened with extinction are showing life again as retailers get more sophisticated about integrating their properties with the online shopping experience. The WSJ’s Kate King reports that nearly 42% of e-commerce orders last year involved stores, up from about 27% in 2015, according to GlobalData. It’s a testament to strategies like buy-online-pickup-in-store that are becoming embedded in the sector, and to retailer efforts to cut logistics costs by using stores as fulfillment hubs. Retailers are on track to open more stores than they close in 2024 for the third consecutive year. Technology has also helped retailers with tougher tasks such as inventory management that come with having stores do double duty. At the same time, many retailers have found that it is too difficult to attract and retain customers without physical stores.

Lawmakers are moving to increase oversight and accountability for trucking contractors who work for the U.S. Postal Service. The U.S. House advanced legislation that would require the Postal Service to track crashes of trucks carrying mail, punish contractors that fail to report collisions and publish a yearly report on its highway safety record. The WSJ’s Christopher Weaver reports the measure, which moved under an expedited procedure, now heads to the Senate. The legislative effort follows a Wall Street Journal investigation last year that showed truckers working for USPS were involved in crashes that killed 79 people over several years and that the agency hired risky trucking contractors and failed to track serious crashes. The USPS overhauled many practices, but an inspector general’s report found the agency hadn’t fully implemented some policies. USPS contractors who fail to report crashes would face fines and possible suspension or termination of their contracts.
 

The conflict between military and commercial supply chains is showing up in some of America’s most sophisticated weaponry. Equipment from F-35 jet fighters to nuclear submarines rely on tiny bits of metal, but China makes almost all of the world’s rare-earth magnets. The WSJ’s Jon Emont reports that Washington is doling out hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and tax credits to revive magnet-making in America as the U.S. places greater restrictions on the use of China-made magnets in the military hardware. After three decades of post-Cold War deindustrialization, the list of potential suppliers has shriveled to a small number in Japan and the West. Only one company in the U.S. produces the dominant type of rare-earth magnet. A Defense Department office is diving into supply chains to invest in the pieces that make the military work, most of it focused on processing minerals and making metals.

• Earnings at China’s rare earth suppliers have declined under shifting global supply chains. (OilPrice.com)
• The White House plans to invest $285 million to develop semiconductor manufacturing digital twins as part of its plan to boost U.S. chip production. (TechCrunch)

Activity in China’s services sector grew at a slightly slower pace in April. (WSJ)

Federal regulators are investigating whether Boeing workers falsified records over the company’s inspections of its 787 Dreamliner. (WSJ)

United Parcel Service CFO Brian Newman is departing the company to focus on his health. (WSJ)

Tyson Foods is projecting a bigger loss for its beef business as a dwindling U.S. cattle supply weighs on suppliers. (WSJ)

Yemen’s Houthi rebels are threatening to extend their attacks on Israel-bound shipping to the Mediterranean. (Times of Israel)

Maersk Line expects Red Sea disruptions to cut shipping industry-wide capacity on Asia-Europe routes by 15% to 20%. (Reuters)

France struck a pact with automotive groups targeting ambitious expansion of sales of electric passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles by 2027. (Bloomberg)

China’s BYD plans to start producing electric vehicles in Uzbekistan. (Automotive Logistics)

Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine ordered six feeder containerships from a Chinese shipyard. (Splash 247)

Venezuela is seeking to arrest two exiled opposition party leaders as part of an investigation into allegedly corrupt tanker charter deals. (TradeWinds)

DP World acquired Laotian port operator Savan Logistics. (WorldCargoNews)

PAM Transportation is considering several measures aimed at protecting the truckload carrier from a hostile takeover. (Trucking Dive)

The CEO of U.K. rail freight company Freightliner says proposals to consolidate railway oversight may undercut freight rail investment. (Financial Times)

Italian airfreight operator AlisCargo Airlines plans to resume operations with a 777 freighter flying for MSC Air Cargo. (Air Cargo News)

Industrial components distributor Fastenal’s daily sales gains in April were the weakest since May 2021. (Modern Distribution Management)

Industrial distributor Graybar’s first-quarter sales jumped 2.2% but net profit retreated 15.7%. (Industrial Distribution)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on X at @WSJLogistics.